Don’t You Want Sandy Too?

I am probably the least qualified person to talk about personal productivity tools, because I find most of them difficult to use, annoying, and cumbersome. Of course, that also means I often miss deadlines, forget tasks, and lose my car keys, so it's fairly obvious that I'm exactly the type of person who NEEDS personal productivity tools. Even more helpful are personal productivity tools that let me share calendar entries and task lists with others, since I have an extremely busy household. Sandy just may be my answer.

I wrote last week about virtual assistants, but at the time, had no idea that one was already out there that would help with the mundane, everyday activities I dread. Sandy, however, has become my new best friend.

Featuring calendar, task list, and reminder functions, Sandy is an easy-to-access tool kit that you can access three ways: by email, by web site, and by Twitter. While I'm a regular, if light, Twitter user, Sandy is by far the best and most productive use of Twitter in my life; I can either send items to my Sandy profile via Twitter or use it as my notifier service.

With simple commands and a text-recognition system, Sandy provides an on-the-fly tool for even the most absent-minded user. She (and yes, I've completely bought into the anthropomorphizing of the tool) recognizes dates and times in various formats, knows that facts go on a task list while things with dates and times go on a calendar, and is probably just as responsive as having a real personal assistant. Reminders can be sent via SMS as well as Twitter, and a daily email with your to-do list, including appointments and tasks can come straight to your email address at the time you specify. Because of the text-recognition feature, you can schedule things as easily as adding Sandy as a :cc on an email you are already sending, inviting friends, family, and co-workers in the process. Sandy requires no additional software to download or plug-ins to install.

Of all the apps and tools I've tested in Web 2.0, Sandy was probably the easiest one to ramp up on and within 15 minutes I was completely under her thumb. From reminding me to complete a simple task an hour from now to scheduling appointments, Sandy does it all. My tiniest complaints, however, have to do with cross-functionality and tracking family activities. There is a Google Calendar feature currently undergoing testing, which adds a Sandy widget to your Google Calendar on each day. Clicking Sandy's icon will show you your list for the day, but it doesn't add anything to the calendar, difficult if you have a family who hasn't all converted. I find that I'm still having to keep two calendars, although I can add Sandy as an invited person on the calendar entry to have her add it as well.

As much as I love Sandy, I do still use the dual calendar system of Sandy and Google Calendar. With four kids, I really need the visualization of the color-coded calendars I have in Google Calendar, something Sandy lacks. The straightforward daily agenda may work for most people, but I need a much more visual representation of who has to be where. If Sandy can add that, I think I'll have found the perfect assistant.